Early Colonization Goals

Economic and Religious Goals of Early Colonization
During the 15th century Spain, France, and England began exploring and colonizing a newly discovered area known as the New World. Christopher Columbus first landed in the New World in 1492, which is when he was accredited with discovering the New World, even though it was already occupied by Native Americans. Once Spain began colonizing in this new area, France and England quickly followed to find economic prosperity and to expand their powerful empires. However, in some cases, the pursuit to prosperity was hindered by relationships forged with the Native Americans.
Spain was the first of these three powerful nations to reach the New World. They landed in South America which is where they began their colonization. Their economic goal was to get rich quickly by discovering gold and silver and to also accumulate wealth through trade of exotic goods with Europe. Spain did not only want to expand their empire and gain wealth, they wanted to convert the Native Americans to Catholicism to save them from going to hell. The goals of the Spanish completely
disregarded the Native Americans already living in this area of the New World. The Spanish built their wealth by dominating the Native Americans. They were forced to mine gold and silver and to work on sugar plantations so the Spanish did not have to get their own hands dirty. In addition, the Native Americans were also forced to provide necessities, such as food and water, to the Spanish. This poor treatment led the Native Americans to hate and resent the Spanish, which prevented Spain from being able to spread Catholicism. Religious groups effortlessly worked to convert the local peoples to Catholicism, however they refused to convert since they were being forced to provide food and services for the Spanish.
When France made the long journey to the New World, they decided to settle much further north than the Spanish. While the Spanish heavily occupied South and Central America, France began colonizing in what is now considered the Northern U.S. and Canada to avoid being kicked out of Spanish territory. Similarly to the Spanish, the French also hoped to get rich quickly. However, they settled too far north to mine for silver and gold so trade was the only method to accumulate wealth. French trade was centered on the fur of animals, not cash crops like Spain. The French also wished to spread Catholicism by converting the local peoples.
Unlike the Spanish, the French and the Native Americans had a very friendly relationship in which they both helped each other. Since the French did not have a big enough population to dominate the Native Americans, they treated them well and offered them goods in exchange for their help. The Native Americans would then hunt, kill, and skin animals and give the fur to the French. Since the French treated the Native Americans so well, they had a much easier time converting them to Catholicism than the Spanish did. Many Native Americans believed that the French had a much more powerful God than they did. This was because when the French settled in the New World, they bought diseases that the Native Americans were not immune to, which lead to increased death within their population. However, the French were not dying so they assumed that they were being protected by a much more powerful God and quickly converted to Catholicism. However, when the Native Americans began to realize that after converting they were not protected from disease and death and converted back to their original religion. Some Native Americans never converted to begin with because they did not want to be saved from hell and go to heaven without their family and friends.
When the English settled in the New World, they also settled in what is now North America. Unlike the Spanish and French, the English settled in a variety of different areas and formed separate colonies with their own economic and religious goals. The colony of Virginia, just like the previous settlements, also wanted to get rich quickly. They discovered no gold or silver so they resorted to tobacco production as a source of wealth. They had very little interest in spreading religion, but they did put some effort into converting Native Americans to Christianity. However, the colonists did not interact with the Native Americans because they were considered to be a nuisance. The colonists either killed them or drove them out of their territory.
Massachusetts was unlike all the settlements that came before it. They did not want to achieve great wealth, they just wanted to be wealthy enough to live comfortably and afford to feed all of its colonists. However, this colony was largely compromised of Puritans so they had extreme religious goals. They sought to create a “city upon a hill,” a perfect religious settlement that would be an example to others of the benefits of following their religion. Although this colony was built on religion, not all followers of the religion could be a member of the church. Members of the church were God’s chosen ones and everyone must be convinced of your status as a chosen one before you could become a member of the church. Just like Virginia, Massachusetts considered the Native Americans to be an annoyance and either killed them or drove them off their land.
While the Carolina’s were built much later than Virginia, they became a colony similarly to Virginia economically and religiously. The Carolina’s economic goal was to get rich quickly through the production and trade of rice and cotton. They also did not have any particular interest in spreading religion, which led to a settlement that embraced religious freedom.
Spain, France, and England expanded their empires into the New World to find economic prosperity.
The Spanish sought to get quick through mining gold and silver, France pursued economic wealth through fur trade with Native Americans, and the English attained wealth through the production of tobacco. In addition to gaining economic wealth, Spain and France also wanted to convert the Native Americans to Catholicism. However, the English had no interest in spreading religion or converting Native Americans. In terms of relationships with the local people, The French colonies were the only ones to form a friendly and helpful relationship with the Native Americans. The Spanish choose to dominate them and force them to work for them in order to achieve greater wealth. The English simply killed them or forced them off of their land so they did not inhibit their
expansion.